In a conventional power conversion device, positive and negative rectangular wave-shaped pulse trains transmitted from a primary side to a secondary side via a transformer are converted into rectangular wave-shaped pulse trains of an identical polarity by being rectified using a rectifier circuit. At this time, a surge voltage is generated on the secondary side of the transformer due to the effect of a recovery current generated when a diode of the rectifier circuit is switched OFF. Therefore, the power conversion device is provided with a snubber circuit in order to suppress this surge voltage.
By providing the snubber circuit, the surge voltage generated on the secondary side of the transformer is clamped to a voltage of a capacitor by a diode of the snubber circuit. As a result, the surge voltage is stored in the capacitor, and therefore respective elements of the rectifier circuit can be protected from an overvoltage (see PTL 1, for example).